Sectra takes major step toward improved cancer care—now supports all high-volume pathology scanners

“Imaging solutions are a critical component of healthcare IT infrastructure. However, without deep integration in surrounding IT systems and support for a wide range of file formats and standards, the true clinical gains will not be realized. That is why vendor neutrality is so important, and something we strive toward across all our products. Within pathology, we have now taken an important step by pushing vendor neutrality even further. I’m convinced that this will translate into better cancer care as healthcare providers can now choose the most suitable scanner for their specific workflow,” says Elin Kindberg, Global Product Manager of Pathology at Sectra. 

With digital images of tissue samples instead of physical glass slides, pathologists are able to instantly access and share current and historical images and information between departments and hospitals. This digital solution provides pathologists with assistance at critical decision points, such as grading or performing more precise measurements. Sectra’s digital pathology solution also allows integrated diagnostics—a flow of information across departmental borders for better collaboration and clinical decisions.

Sectra has for many years been in the forefront in pushing vendor neutrality to support adoption of digital pathology in clinical routine practice, and already supports DICOM for pathology images. Since digital pathology is still an emerging technology, not all scanner vendors produce images in a standard file format, instead using so-called proprietary file formats. Sectra supports several of these already, but now, with the extension of the additional two file formats, Sectra supports all high-volume pathology scanners. This provides healthcare providers with full freedom of choice when choosing scanners.

Sectra’s digital pathology module is being used in primary diagnostics on several markets and received FDA approval in the US in March 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA has also allowed remote digital diagnostics and US labs can use any scanner during this enforcement policy. Under normal circumstances, Sectra’s digital pathology solution has FDA approval for primary diagnostics when used together with Leica Biosystems’ AT2 DX scanner and the Dell MR2416 monitor. Sectra’s solution for digital pathology is part of Sectra’s enterprise imaging solution and provides a unified strategy for all imaging needs. The scalable and modular solution, with a VNA at its core, allows healthcare providers to grow from ology to ology and from enterprise to enterprise. Read more about Sectra’s enterprise imaging solution and why Sectra PACS is ranked “Best in KLAS” for seven consecutive years at medical.sectra.com.

About Sectra
Sectra assists hospitals throughout the world to enhance the efficiency of care, and authorities and defense forces in Europe to protect society’s most sensitive information. Thereby, Sectra contributes to a healthier and safer society. The company was founded in 1978, has its head office in Linköping, Sweden, with direct sales in 19 countries, and operates through partners worldwide. Sales in the 2019/2020 fiscal year totaled SEK 1,661 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. For more information, visit https://sectra.com/.